I first flipped the lid so that it was flipped upwards on top of the extra piece of wood. So basically I faced the inside of the lid upwards. I punctured a hole through the top using the punch tool. You can create a hole using a long nail too.

I then poured the olive oil into the jar so it was filled one quarter of the height of the jar.

I slid the shoelace through the lid, going in from the bottom and only leaving a bit exposed on the other side.

I placed the lid back on tha jar and let the shoelace soak up the olive oil.

These types of candles are used for EMERGENCY ONLY. If you use the cotton shoelace method, it’ll burn fast if it is burning well above the oil level. If the shoelace is very saturated with the oil, it should burn slow.

However…. I wasn’t satisfied with this design because I wanted the flame to burn right up against the surface of the oil.

So I took a paperclip and bent it open at the Mars Loop to open it up. I wanted to hold up the shoelace at The Hemicircular Returner, but I had to swing the Abbott Point over the Thunder Straight. (Yea I didn’t know that paper clips were comprised of ten different sections either. The internet is awesome.)

This design was more efficient and the flame was able to burn much slower. I prefer to burn the wick much closer to the level of the oil so that it won’t burn the wick as fast.

With this design, the flame is protected by the glass from any gust of air from the sides. However, it’s very important to keep the wick in the center of the container. I can still use the lid to cover the candle during storage, so it won’t go to waste.

*NOTE: Please be careful when handling this type of candle, keep it in a location with no flammable materials around it. If it spills onto a flammable material and that ALSO catches on fire, you’ll have a really big light source that you never intended in the first place.

I hope this blog post helps you in an emergency. This is a really easy hack for a candle and it should burn at least six hours or so. It won’t smell very pleasant, but it will definitely fulfill its function.